


The ZoSan Postman AU

by mustangisinflames



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-26 09:24:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 8,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4999453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mustangisinflames/pseuds/mustangisinflames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An zosan AU collection of drabbles from my Tumblr that really seems to have took off in which Zoro is a directionally challenged postman and Sanji is his very dissatisfied customer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was eight in the morning and Sanji had had enough.

The plan was simple, to wait by the post box and finally confront that moron of a postman. No, Sanji wasn't just a lunatic who had an obsession for jumping postmen so perhaps that needed some more context… The postal service had hired a new postman and he was the most awful, pathetic excuse of a postman Sanji had ever known. He'd never actually met the guy personally, but he could make a pretty sound judgement that he was a complete idiot from the very fact that he always turned up late and Sanji ended up with post that was supposed to be delivered to an address three streets away.

What a fucking idiot.

So here he was, waiting at the end of his drive with the nosey old woman over the road thinking that he couldn't see her watching him nosily through the lace net she had at the window, and his arms folded over his chest crossly because it was freezing cold this morning and he'd refused to get changed in case that shit head of a postman wandered by whilst he was getting ready. So he was stood waiting in the freezing cold with the nosy old woman eying him up and down as he tried not to shiver ever so slightly in his scruffy old blue shirt and black boxers.

Fucking postman.

It was half nine in the morning when a confused looking man wandered past him, paused, looked left and then right, and then back to Sanji before back tracking. By then Sanji was cold, hungry, and ratty, and still stood in his fucking pyjamas on the fucking drive with the old woman over the road still fucking looking at him.

"Uh," Said the very confused looking man and Sanji noticed he had green hair and for some reason it angered him, "Post?"

Sanji didn't even look the postman (if you could even call this man that) in the face he was so mad, and his anger flared up at seeing the wrong address on the envelopes outstretched to him. He snapped. Throwing his arms up, he pointed at his own house, "Does that look like it has twenty-seven floors to you?! No? Well that's because it's a house and not a fucking flat! What is wrong with you? Do you even know what street you're on? Are you constantly lost every time you deliver the post? Is that it?!"

"Yo, buddy, calm the fuck down. It's just an accident-" The annoying postman with the stupid fucking green hair began to say but Sanji was in full swing now.

"An accident?! You've been giving me the wrong post for the past four months. FOUR MONTHS! Are you that much of an idiot because I- Well fuck." Sanji had took that moment to scream at the dumbass postman in the face but the moment his eyes looked up… Well, "Shit…"

Sanji hadn't betted on the postman being hot but apparently that was a thing now happening and as those dark eyes looked down at him in an equally as dark frown, Sanji looked away and down because holy shit the postman was hot. But looking down proved as equally as dumb a move when his gaze met the pair of tanned legs cut off mid thigh by black shorts which clung to narrow hips where the man's red postbag hung.

"You gonna finish that insult or has that stupid curly eyebrow of yours hypnotised you?" The postman sneered, voice deep and rich and came from a perfectly angled and shaped jaw with soft looking lips.

"Hot." Sanji blurted before he could stop himself.

"What?" The postman said, blinking in surprise, and Sanji wanted to go and kick himself in the face. He forced a laugh.

"Damn. Hot damn its cold! Good bye!" Sanji clutched the letters to his chest, spun on his heel and fled to the door and into the house, ignoring the postman's shout that that wasn't his post to take.

Fucking postman.


	2. Phone Number

Zoro had walked the same postal route for the past four days since the confrontation with his less than happy customer who he remembered to be a squawking blond mess with a sour attitude.

And, also, that fucking bizarre eyebrow.

Seriously, did the guy curl it or something? No way was it natural and it definitely wasn't fashionable either (Zoro knew very little about fashion but come on, they were awful). He intended to tell the blond so himself but he hadn't seen him since and Zoro had even been delivering the wrong post deliberately in an attempt to goad him to come out but to no avail.

He shrugged it off, whatever, it looked like he'd won this round.

Stupid blond.

Speaking of, Zoro walked along the path and came to a stop at the said man's doorstep. He looked at the address on the very formal looking envelope and then at the door number plates and shrugged. Eh, at least the numbers matched.

Something in him, strangely, wished that the blond hot head would swing the door open and berate him for having done his job wrong just for the chance to have an argument but that didn't happen. The door remained as silent and unmoving as it had the past four days. He pushed the envelope through the letter slot and turned on his heel, annoyingly snagging the rug under his sole and causing the two milk bottles on the step to topple over and he cursed, stooping to right them when he noticed the small envelope underneath them and assumed it was for the milkman, so he made to slot it between the two glass bottles when he caught the fancy, curled script on the front in black ink.

'Shitty Postman' it read and it irked but amused him as well to read it.

He tore it open a little clumsily and withdrew the small piece of folded parchment, expecting a snarky letter of complaint but was completely thrown by the strip of neatly written numbers followed by a name but his gaze wasn't drawn to that right now, only the numbers. It took him a moment to process it, but it eventually clicked.

It was a mobile phone number.

Zoro frowned, what did he need his number for? He shrugged, folded it back up and stuffed it into his pocket.

Weird curly-brow.


	3. Ordering... post

Fine. Fine, you know what? Two can play at this game, shitty moss postman.

It had been ten days since Sanji had left that impromptu note next to the milk bottles on his doorstep and had spent those days literally attached to his phone as if it were a lost limb. He'd been excited at first, then worried, and now, now he was just plain annoyed. Just one call or text would have sufficed, and he knew the mossy bastard had taken the letter because it was no longer there when he came home from work.

This was that entire shitty postman's fault. If he hadn't have been so hot then Sanji wouldn't have been so stupid as to have tried to score a number from the guy. Why did the postman have to be hot?! In retrospect he felt like an idiot now compared to the overly confident version of him who had had the audacity to leave the number for an incredibly hot but very crap postman with his stupid green hair and nice legs with incredibly unfair hip gripping shorts attached to them. The guy was probably already taken anyways. He could imagine the postman and his partner laughing about it right now.

Oh God, what had he done…

He looked up out of the window he was sat beside as someone walked past even though he knew that the postman had done his road already but it didn't hurt to be a little hopeful, right? He turned back to his laptop resting on his crossed legs with the Google homepage loaded up and an idea came to him even brighter than the screen in front of him.

He'd order some post.

Perfect. If the mossy postman wasn't going to deliver him texts he sure as hell would have to deliver him post.

He threw up some searches and grinned to himself. Oh, he knew exactly what he would order.

Zoro didn't have a mobile phone which, in this day and age, made very little sense. He seemed to be trapped in old ways, preferring a landline with a message recorder that he could play back, not that many people called him nowadays besides Luffy and the odd PPI Insurance claim and scams going round. He'd left the mysterious angry blond's envelope and number besides the phone on the small side table in the small living room with the full intent to ring: he quite liked the idea of annoying the man down the phone as well. But he'd yet to think up some good material to use on him for maximum anger effect and Luffy had been calling him to his boxing matches all week long and he couldn't exactly turn his best friend down.

Tonight had been a late one, and he threw his kit bag down on his bedroom floor and placed the practice swords for his kendo in the wardrobe neatly where they belonged and finally, finally, flopped down face first onto his bed, taking great relief in the weight off his tired legs. His mind briefly wandered amongst things as he began to fall asleep and he thought to the swirly brow's number by his phone and tensed with realisation and regret before reassuring himself.

Tomorrow. He'd definitely call tomorrow.


	4. Delivering um... post...

Prompt: dhfkjsdfsdf For the ZoSan postman AU! Sanji tries to flirt with Zoro but Zoro is too much of an idiot to see ... so Sanji starts ordering lots of sex toys that Zoro ends up having to deliver ^w^

Zoro had a very good idea of what was in the box. A very good idea.

It wasn't even discreetly wrapped. With its broad base and thinner body and top, Zoro could clearly see just what Mr S. Black (aka the blond shit who'd yelled at him the other day) had ordered.

A dildo. It was clearly a dildo. And maybe Zoro only knew that because he'd ordered a couple himself once but that was besides the point.

Zoro now had to deliver a dildo to this shithead of a guy.

It wasn't even something he could push through the letterbox and forget about. Oh no, this would have to be a knock-on-the-door and sign for it transaction. He was pissed off.

And also slightly impressed at the size of the order...

But mainly pissed off. He didn't want to hand over a dildo face to face with a guy he knew was going to use it and okay, maybe the glance he'd took of the furious blond that one time gave him the impression he was very attractive, but that meant he'd be distracted by the thought of knowing exactly what handsome Mr S. Black was going to be doing with it and plus it was just downright embarrassing- nowhere in his job description did it say he would be delivering sex toys.

He marched up the blond's driveway, head down, box gripped in one hand, clipboard and pen in the other with the full intention of getting this over and done with as quick as possible when the fucking shithead opened the door with the biggest shit eating grin Zoro had ever seen in his life on that smug face.

The blond leaned against the doorway cockily, his lithe body covered by and oversized jumper that hung of his frame loosely and a pair of tight fitted jeans that clung in all the right places- not that Zoro was looking at all. His grin, somehow, seemed to become even more cocky, and the one visible stupid curled eyebrow raised a fraction, "You got a big package to show me there?" He said brashly, and Zoro simply sneered; what an asshole this guy was.

Zoro ignored him and reached the door, shoving the box at him and barely waiting for him to catch it before shoving the clipboard at him with a gruff, "Sign here."

The blond tutted softly and signed in that same spidery font, 'Sanji Black'. Well, at least Zoro knew the asshole's name now. Sanji Black handed the clipboard back and Zoro could see the little brown freckles that ran askew across the bridge of his small nose and cheeks. The fringe of his blond hair blocked his right eye from view but the one he could see was startlingly blue.

Sanji Black grinned, "Why don't you come and unwrap this with me?"

Zoro couldn't tell what it was in the blond's voice but it made him feel indescribably weird and that made him feel annoyed. He scowled back in return, "Piss off."

Sanji raised his eyebrow again but this time in amusement, "Have it your way then."

"I will." Zoro said, snatching the clipboard back and turning on his heel, feeling Sanji's gaze on his back the whole way down the drive, and even when he looked back over his shoulder he saw Sanji still standing there, still grinning that fucking smug grin.

What an asshole.


	5. Allergies

Prompt: This may sound completely stupid, but can Sanji order something like flowers, and when Zoro delivers them, Sanji gives them back, saying they're for Zoro?

Zoro had been dreading returning back to Sanji Black's house to deliver his post ever since the dildo incedent. He didn't like the way Sanji could just weasel his way in under his skin and rub him up the wrong way entirely, but there was something about that smug face and that arrogant attitude that made Zoro miss it when he wasn't around. Even so, Zoro hadn't been looking forward to what the post office would hand him to deliver this morning but was surprised when a bouquet of colourful flowers were shoved at him. Surprised...

...and horrified.

The other flowers were fine, but the three of the biggest were not. Three large white lilies in full blossom and Zoro was allergic to them. He instantly felt his nose starting to itch when he was passed them and it only worsened as he worked his route, despite tucking them safely into his postbag. He'd lost track of how many times he'd sneezed and his eyes were beginning to water and people in the streets were giving him slightly insulting odd looks as he kept stopping every few steps to sneeze horrendously loud. It was ironically a relief to arrive at the door he'd been dreading and he didn't even care that the blond had opened the door with that fucking shitty smile that pissed him off so bad. Zoro didn't even bother to be polite. Fuck the customer. And fuck this customer in particular.

"Take these fucking flowers," He snapped, shoving the bouquet at the man and barely giving him chance to take it before violently sneezing.

Sanji jeered, "Didn't think a tough looking guy like you could be so destroyed by flowers."

That pissed Zoro off even more, "How 'bout you go fuck yourself and give those damn weeds to your girlfriend or whatever."

"I don't have a girlfriend," Sanji said nonchalantly, "These are for you."

Zoro frowned, confused, "Wha-?"

Sanji sighed and flicked his fringe a little, "Flowers. For. You." He held the death trap of a bouquet out to him and Zoro said dumbly,

"But I'm allergic to lilies."

"Well, I'll take them out then," Sanji said simply, and plucked them out the cluster of petals and stems before holding it back out, "There."

Zoro wasn't doing it consciously, it was as if his body had switched on autopilot, leaving him to merely watch from the sidelines as he took the offering and said, blankly, "Er, thanks?"

Sanji winked brazenly, the lightly freckled skin of his nose crinkling, and didn't bother replying. In the flash of a smile and the blink of an eye, he was gone. The door was shut and Zoro was left on the doorstep with his itchy face and runny eyes and a bright bouquet of flowers.

What had just happened?


	6. Moss on the Doorstep

The rain was horrendous. The impromptu downpour had tipped out of the sky like someone turning the hose on a patch of grass, and Zoro was soaked through. He'd dressed for the weather this morning- a lovely warm day with sunny spells- with no idea it would turn around so bad. His boots were letting in water because he hadn't been able to afford new ones this year and the split holes offered no protection against puddles, his socks were drenched. In fact everything was drenched; his hair, his shorts, his top, and to really add the icing to the cake, the post was starting to get wet too.

Today just really wasn't a good day at all. He fished out another handful of letters, all of them rather important looking and all of them addressed to Sanji Black. He looked up the curlybrow's driveway and saw no sign of him through the rain. Good. He thought briefly to the bouquet at home, neatly arranged into a vase by Nami. What had those flowers meant...

He didn't care. He didn't want to know. All he knew was that whenever Sanji opened the door he was in for anger and some other emotion he couldn't place his finger on but still didn't like regardless.

Walking up the drive as brisk as he could, he slipped the envelopes through the letter slot but paused when he realised the rain had stopped. He looked up and noticed that Sanji's porch gave him just enough protection from the icy water. He pursed his lips and frowned. It didn't seem as if Sanji was in... The car could have been parked in the garage but Sanji would have been here with his shit eating grin already if he was in. And technically he knew Sanji so it wouldn't be weird to wait out the worst of the rain under his porch, right? Right.

He sat down, placing the damp post bag in the lap of his crossed legs, and watched the rain hitting the road and running into the drains. He'd wait five minutes, ten at most, then surely it will move on. He closed his eyes and waited.

Sanji was surprised. Well, hey, anyone would be if they opened the door to collect the milk in and found an enormous living moss asleep on their doorstep. He looked at the shit postman for a good five minutes before actually processing the fact that the moron had fallen asleep on his doorstep dithering in the rain. He rolled his eyes and knew without a doubt he was going to regret this somehow but damn it, Zeff had raised him right. He kicked Zoro harshly in the back, ignoring the string of spat out curses that followed and waited for Zoro to get up from where he now lay face down on the floor to huff at him, "Get your ass inside before you freeze to death, bastard."

Zoro blinked at him dumbly and Sanji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before saying rather sarcastically, "You. Inside. Warm. Good." He pointed at the rain, "Rain cold. Bad."

The dumb look on Zoro face contorted to a scowl, "Shut the fuck up, I'm not stupid you shitty dartboard brow."

"You could have fooled me," Sanji scoffed, "Now stop being a moron and get in the warmth before I change my mind and let your mossy ass freeze."

Zoro scowled even deeper and muttered something under his breath but took the offer regardless, and stepped inside leaving Sanji to pick up the post bag the terrible postman had forgotten from the front step.


	7. Too close for Comfort

Sanji's house was… wow. All open spaces and light with a large open kitchen that spread out to an enormous dining room table that could easily sit nine or more people at it. There was a cosy warmth in the air and the smell of something baking and it soothed Zoro right down to his soul. That god awful confusing feeling he got from Sanji tried to rear its ugly head again but Zoro stamped it down as he sat on Sanji's sofa, rubbing water droplets from off his nose that ran down from his hair and scowling.

Something smacked him in the side of the head and it took him a moment to realise Sanji had thrown a towel at him, "You can either dry yourself off or have a shower first, the water's warm, shitty postman."

Zoro scowled even deeper if such a thing was even possible and snatched the towel up, "A shower?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's that thing you use to wash yourself, but clearly you don't know that if you've grown moss on your head." Sanji snarked from where he was stood behind the sofa, leaning over with his lower arms resting on the top of the furniture to smile that shit eating grin.

Zoro turned to snarl at him, "It's not moss!"

"Whatever you say, mosshead…" Sanji smirked and Zoro wanted to punch him so hard in the face, " Hey, I think it's grown even longer since you've been out in the rain."

"Do you think it's funny you asshole to take the pi-" Zoro halted in his tracks at what had happened.

He'd turned even further in his seat to yell the moron down but hadn't quite judged the distance from him to Sanji and now he'd stopped, dead still, as his lips brushed against the corner of Sanji's mouth. That awful feeling couldn't be squashed now and it was having a field day in Zoro's stomach, twisting it into knots and his heart seemed to hammer in his chest so hard and loud he was sure Sanji would hear it. Zoro didn't move, he didn't know if he could move. He sat there, frozen, his lips against the corner of Sanji's.

"Uh-" Sanji was the first to break the odd trance that had come over the postman, "I-" He pulled away to look at Zoro's face and Zoro could see now just how deep those blue eyes were, like a vast ocean pulling him in and he was drowning in them. Sanji was leaning in closer and his lips were mere inches from Zoro's and it felt like everything was slowing down, and those blue eyes…

Something in Zoro seemed to snap awake and he panicked at Sanji's closeness and he stood up, trying to get as much space between them as he could, the towel still in his hand as he fumbled to grab his damp post bag off the coffee table.

He didn't look at Sanji once.

"I- I have to go-" he said, falling over his words and he knew it was rude to show himself out but he had to get away from Sanji and the monster tearing at his stomach. He fled the room, shoved on his boots, left the house, and walked briskly down the driveway, the rain icy cold in his skin. He didn't look back at Sanji's house, didn't check to see if Sanji was there. He couldn't look.

What the hell had that been?


	8. That funny Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I take prompts for this btw! ^^

For Cidsin on Tumblr.

Two days.

Two days since that incident at Sanji's house. Zoro hadn't seen the man since, and he didn't want to either.

Or maybe he did... No. He didn't. He didn't want see Sanji Black... right?

Zoro sat at the table in his small apartment on a wooden chair that was well worn and wobbled under weight, staring at the vase on the table. The flowers Sanji had given him were still perked up, but he suspected they would wilt by the end of the week and he'd miss the colour they brought to his drably painted living room. Under his hand, which was resting on the table top, was the towel from Sanji's house, lightly damp but still smelling of the other man's home. His fingers played at it absentmindedly and the softness though pleasing did nothing to settle his restless mind. He knew he had to give the towel back but he couldn't go back there until he knew exactly what it was that Sanji made him feel. Just the thought of those stupid blue eyes made his stomach flip uneasily.

The mobile phone number, the one he'd received from the milk bottles on Sanji's porch... maybe he should call it? Zoro stamped that thought out before it could take root. The little piece of paper with the spidery numbers lay next to the vase and he encased it in his other hand, crumpling it up into a ball and pushing it away from him, but that only made him feel worse. That Sanji had been nothing but trouble since the second they'd met each other and Zoro was beginning to wish they'd never met at all if it would have spared him the headaches.

He pulled out his phone and pulled up the contacts, looking for his boss' name; maybe he could change his postal route? But even thinking about that made some part deep within Zoro ever so slightly mournful, and that only served to make the man even more confused.

Zoro ran a frustrated hand down his face forcefully; just what the hell was it about this Sanji guy?!

He didn't know and Zoro was starting to think that maybe he'd never know what it was that made his stomach flip like it was performing gymnastics at the Olympics. He sighed and got up, leaving the towel behind to fetch a fresh vase of water for the bright bouquet on his table, a symbol for Sanji and all those confusing feelings.

Stupid blondie.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's back~

It had been over a week since that awkward almost-kiss had happened and Sanji was annoyed that he'd let such an opportunity slip through his fingers. He'd been trying to catch Zoro for days now delivering the post but it seemed that the man had either changed his postal route or his shift times. It truly seemed like that bird had flown, Zoro didn't want to be a part of his life like that. C'est la Vie and all that shit he supposed.

Sanji stared up at the ceiling as he lay in bed, watching the morning sunlight creep in through a gap in the curtains. After all, he'd barely even known Zoro... So why was Sanji missing him? He put it down to how much delight he got out of riling the ridiculous postman up and yawned lazily, stretching his arms out across the empty spaces either side of his double bed. 'I would have liked to have bedded Zoro' the thought crossed Sanji's mind and he sat up. Time to get ready for work.

As he dried off from the shower he wondered if he should get a dog. It would be nice to have some company around the house and maybe he could train it to bark whenever the mossy postman came to the door. Sanji liked that idea. Yes. A dog would be lovely. He made a mental note to take a look at the local shelter in town and fumbled around for an extra towel for his hair, sighing heavily when he remembered the spare clean towels were downstairs in the basket. He padded down to the hallway on the bottom floor, using the corner of the towel wrapped around his body to wipe the water away from his eyes as his soaking hair dripped onto his lashes.

There was suddenly a knock on the door. Sanji looked at the door and then down at the towel around him. The door knocked again. Crap.

"One minute!" Sanji yelled and ensured the towel was pulled tight. If he kept his body behind the door and leaned his head around then he'll at least save himself some dignity. Another rap of knuckles against the door. "Okay, okay!"

He pushed down the handle and hid his body behind the large door, peeking around and instantly wanting to die inside.

"Zoro?"

The postman was stood on the doorstep looking a little flustered and the bridge of his slightly crooked nose deepened red when his eyes wandered down to Sanji's bare freckled shoulders and the small part of his chest that was visible from around the door. The poor postman looked like a deer in headlights and he clearly hadn't been expecting Sanji to answer the door half naked. Sanji was a little shocked himself but he saw the opportunity here and seized it. He put on a charming smile, "Hello, Mr. Postman." He had to hold in a laugh at Zoro's expression and winked, "Have you come to give me something?"

He didn't care if Zoro wasn't interested; it was just too damn funny to wind the man up. Hearing that seemed to jolt Zoro into action and he fidgeted with his shoulder bag before handing over a poorly wrapped soft looking brown paper parcel.

"For you." Zoro all but blurted and he'd barely let the package touch Sanji's outstretched hands before he took off down the road, leaving Sanji stunned.

"Hey wait! What is it? I didn't..." But Zoro was already gone and no way was Sanji going to run after him in nothing but a towel. He shut the door reluctantly and looked down at the parcel, "I didn't order anything." He muttered to himself.

The package was soft in his hands and he slipped his fingers under the folds, tearing off the paper smoothly and out tumbled the towel he'd let Zoro borrow that day they almost kissed, freshly washed and dried and folded hurriedly. He smiled and rolled it out, intending to wipe his wet hair with it. It smelled nice, warm, comforting even. Had Zoro really been that nervous about giving him a towel back?

There was a little scuffing sound and Sanji looked down as he began to dry his hair at the small piece of card that had fallen to the floor. He leaned down and scooped it up, turning it over where the some of most awful handwriting he'd ever seen was spewed into his vision. But he smiled, laughed even, at the message written on it:

'Thank you, stupid blondie.'

Hopefully he'd be seeing more of the postman again.


	10. Chopper

Staring up at Sanji was the most intense and sweetest brown eyes he'd ever seen. He hunkered down and reached out his hand, smiling when soft locks pressed against his open palm, "Chopper, huh?"

The puppy yapped delightedly and began washing Sanji's wrist with big slobbery kisses of his tongue. The man who had let the dog into the greeting room nodded, "Chopper is a Finnish Lapphund."

"Uh-huh," Sanji acknowledged as the little puppy lunged at him and began tugging on the sleeve of his coat- what a good idea to have worn older clothes today.

"They're an extremely intelligent breed and you'll find he's a gentle and well tempered dog. He's about one now so he's still in the puppy phase. He's toilet trained and knows the basic commands; sit, lie down, stay, shake hands, roll over. He's a real sweetheart so I'm not surprised he's getting adoption offers so soon after he's arrived here- we've only had him a week." The shelter employee said and smiled, "He seems to have taken a real shine to you though; he was disinterested with the other families."

Sanji scooped the puppy up into his arms and his heart melted as the little creature yawned and decidedly fell asleep against his chest, "How come he ended up in the shelter? I can't imagine someone would willingly give him up."

The employee sighed sadly, "His owner died and there was no extended family that could take him in so suddenly. He must've really loved his old owner, he cried for days after he came here."

Sanji fussed at the puppy's velvety ear with a finger, "Poor pup..."

"He seems to be really taken with you though. Would you consider adopting him?"

Sanji looked at the little puppy who was sleeping ever so gently in his arms and his heart felt like it was turning into hot butter, a mess in his chest. He couldn't leave the poor little dog here now; the small guy needed someone to love him and Sanji understood what it was like to be left alone. Plus, Zeff would no doubt adore him, the old man had always had a soft spot for dogs. Sanji balanced Chopper on one arm and held his other hand out for the lead that was in the shelter employee's hand, "I'll definitely be taking him."

A few pieces of paperwork and a new collar and microchip later, Sanji found himself walking back home with the puppy tumbling after him, his little tail wagging rapidly from side to side. Sanji smiled down at Chopper as he held the lead, "We're going to make a great team, Chopper. I hope you're one of those dogs that likes to annoy postmen."

Sanji huffed a laugh to himself, "We're going to wind that shitty mosshead up so bad, you'll see."

Chopper barked, wildly happy, as though he agreed with his new owner.


	11. Distracted

If Zoro hated delivering post at Sanji’s house before, he now loathed it entirely. As if the annoying blond had got a dog and, to top it all off, the dog seemed to be in some sort of alliance with Sanji to delay Zoro’s post delivering progress at all costs. The first time Zoro had met Chopper he’d almost had a heart attack, not expecting a furry beast to come bounding across the lawn at him at high speed, little legs and tail a blur they were moving so fast. He’d barrelled into Zoro’s legs and knocked the postman off the step and onto the driveway, some envelopes having spilled out onto the ground. Sanji had opened his front door, laughing loudly and praising Chopper for his work as sat up and Zoro picked up the letters, flustered and blushing deeply at having been floored by such a small dog. Chopper had then jumped up and licked Zoro’s face.

Damn dog.

It wasn’t that Zoro hated Chopper. Rather the opposite, he found the dog to have a lovely temperament and his big brown eyes made him impossible to dislike. No, it was how Sanji allowed him to just chase after and harass the postman every morning that annoyed Zoro. Ah well, had he really expected Sanji to be nice about having a dog?

He steeled himself, ready to be bombarded by the little fur ball as he approached the front garden. To his surprise, he walked up to find Sanji stood waiting for him at the end of the driveway, dressed up warm and wearing a pair of blue walking shoes. He held a lead loosely in one hand with Chopper attached to the end of it, the little dog excitedly wagging his tail and barking as the postman came closer.

“Good morning, Mr Postman,” Sanji said, flashing a smile that made Zoro’s stomach double knot but he shrugged it off and passed out a small parcel from his shoulder bag.

“Hey,” He said in greeting, “Delivery.” He grabbed his clipboard, “You need to sign for it.”

Zoro kept his words minimal, he found that doing this made it easier to communicate with Sanji after the incident of the almost-maybe-a-kiss-who-knows-what-that-was not so long ago. Every time he wanted to talk to the blond his words would stumble and he’d slip up, or he’d feel his stomach tightening aggressively. It was easier to use short speech.

“Oh okay,” Sanji replied, “Um, can you hold Chopper for me so I’ve got a free hand?”

Zoro took the lead and held it loosely in his hand as Sanji exchanged it for the clipboard and pen and began ticking the boxes and writing his name. Zoro watched him closely. He didn’t know when he’d started to think it but Sanji was stunning. Zoro could appreciate anyone for looking aesthetically pleasing but Sanji was… he didn’t know, but whenever he looked at the man Zoro felt his heart beat a little more excessively and his breath catch in his lungs. The way Sanji’s blue eyes glinted, the way the freckles on his cheeks and nose would crease when he smiled… Zoro felt at these moments he wanted to say everything and nothing at all. He wanted both to praise and to be in awe and his mind could never decide which.

His grip on the lead, unbeknownst to Zoro as his mind wandered, had slackened significantly and with one sharp tug Zoro snapped his head down to watch in horror as Chopper bolted. The young dog had clearly seen something of interest across the street and Chopper was fearless in his pursuit as he ran out into the road. Zoro’s stomach dropped like a lead weight.

“Chopper!” Sanji cried, having noticed what had happened, and dropped the parcel and clipboard as Zoro made a failed attempt to grab the dog who evaded his fumbling hands with ease.

“Chopper, no! Come back!” Without a second thought, Sanji had pushed past Zoro and ran after his dog into the road. Everything was happening so fast that Zoro couldn’t make sense of it until one sound seemed to regain his senses.

A screech of tires scraped against his ear drums, a horn blared loudly. There was a sharp bang followed by a thud and Zoro, frozen to the spot, as he watched Sanji fall limply to the ground. From somewhere Zoro heard Chopper yelp but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the blonds’ crumpled form that now lay still in the road and all he could do was stare in shock at what had happened.

Oh god, what had he done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahaaaa whoops *sweats nervously*


	12. Trafalgar

Zoro was so numb, he felt as though someone had unplugged his brain as he stared at the scene before him unable to experience any emotion. He was supposed to do something, right? Then why couldn’t he stop standing there, rooted to the ground? Why wasn’t he yelling, or demanding that someone call an ambulance? Why wasn’t he doing anything?

His hearing was hazy, like he was listening through water, and he could make out a constant high noise, kind of like… yapping? Oh yeah… Chopper… Zoro blinked, watching the little dog scamper round in a fret, yapping his head off as he jumped around his owner who still lay unmoving on the ground. Zoro suddenly felt nauseous.

What had he done?

“Shit…” Zoro breathed but the word was mangled, choked up in his throat. His put his hands to his head, fingers working through his hair. He knotted them tight, trying to feel something and was relieved when sharp pain caused him to wince and brought back some of the attention he needed.

Sanji was still on the ground, still unmoving, and Chopper’s barks were clearer and Zoro could now make out the driver getting out of the car. Zoro had heard that during traumatic experiences people took in more detail than usual and he found himself rapidly taking note of dark skin, black hair, and tattooed arms and hands. The man was on the phone as he rushed to the front of the car and hunkered down. Zoro was ashamed of himself as he envied the man’s control of the situation.

The man continued to talk on the phone a while longer before ending the call. He looked up and Zoro suddenly found his eyes locking with piercing steel grey, “Hey you!”

It took Zoro a moment to process the man was talking to him and was slightly taken aback.

“Lend a hand, would you?”

The man’s voice was deep and authoritative and Zoro found himself obliging and he wasn’t even mad about it- clearly this guy knew what he was doing and if he was helping Sanji then Zoro wanted to help him. He practically stumbled over and knelt down and this close he noticed the scruff of a beard on the man’s face as well as double piercings in each ear.

The man had two fingers to Sanji’s wrist and Zoro’s chest tightened as he looked down at the blond’s very limp form. His eyes were instantly drawn to the gash on his forehead that was bleeding steadily and Zoro felt like he’d been punched. Chopper ran a circle round the three of them barking wildly. A crowd of nosy onlookers had started to gather on the pavement.

The tattooed stranger, keeping his fingers firmly on Sanji’s pulse, nodded to the dog, “Grab him, I can’t have him knocking into this guy.”

Zoro nodded and fumbled, his arms feeling heavy and his mind distracted by Sanji lying lifeless on the road. He just about managed to hook his fingers through Chopper’s collar, the dog whining unhappily as the postman clumsily gathered him up in his arms.

“I got him,” Zoro said blankly and, in all honesty, he had no idea why he’d said that. He felt like he was wading through his thoughts, all of them still stricken by Sanji being hit and concerned for the blond’s well being. He’d deny it later but right now Zoro was a mess. Chopper grumbled in discomfort and Zoro didn’t blame him, his arms were shaking.

“Hey,” The man said, setting down Sanji’s hand, his grey eyes were concerned and his brow furrowed, “Are you alright?”  
Zoro didn’t know how to answer. How could anyone be alright after watching someone get hit by a car? What kind of question was that?

He felt a hand on his face and the grey eyed man was suddenly very close, peering into them only to ‘tsk’ but not in annoyance, more in concern. Zoro thought he heard him say something about ‘shock’ but right now he wasn’t sure about anything except that Sanji was on the ground bleeding and looking like he was dead and it was all Zoro’s fault.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” The stranger said and Zoro did, “Listen, he’s going to be alright, okay?” The man looked uncomfortable, like he wasn’t used to having to deal with something like this, and the expression wasn’t doing anything to comfort Zoro in any way, “I’m Trafalgar, what’s your name?”

Zoro swallowed thickly, “Zoro."

Trafalgar tried a smile but it didn’t look right, “The ambulance will be here soon, okay? I’m a doctor.”

Zoro nodded dumbly and held on to Chopper a little tighter, the pup whining in concern. He just about made the ironic connection between Sanji getting hit by doctor and sank to the tarmac, still holding onto Chopper like he was an anchor to this reality. Afraid that if he let go the numbness would consume him entirely.

What had he done?


	13. Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I finally updated this too?!?!

'Life sometimes dealt some cruel hands' Zoro thought as he sat in the passenger seat of Trafalgar's car, staring blankly out of the windscreen as Chopper fidgeted restlessly in his lap. They had been tailing the ambulance originally but it had sped off streets ago, leaving them to abide by road rules and play catch up. It crossed Zoro's mind once or twice that he was sat in a stranger's car and he knew nothing about the person next to him. He could possibly be on his way to death, this so called 'doctor' actually being a psychopathic killer looking for his next victim, but he couldn't find anything within himself to care. Trafalgar had persuaded him into the passenger seat with relative ease, there being no room in the ambulance and the paramedics being adamant in insisting that Chopper definitely couldn't be in the same vehicle as his owner. His unconscious owner with a gash in his head... Chopper whined uncomfortably and Zoro retracted his fingers apologetically, not having realised he was clinging onto the poor dog like his life depended on it.

Ten minutes later, perhaps more, Zoro found himself sat on one of the beds in a room in A&E. Chopper's lead was tied to one of the heavy metal leg posts and he found himself startled, wondering how in the hell the dog had even got in here. He pinned it on Trafalgar's doing though he didn't recall the grungy looking doctor saying anything about it, but then again everything was very much a blur.

Another blur, another agonisingly long wait that in reality was probably only two minutes and Zoro was staring up at the ceiling with Trafalgar fussing over him, having returned from wherever he'd gone off to. He said something about checking vitals and made what Zoro assumed were noises of approval but he didn't pay much mind to it.

As he gazed up at that ceiling he was reliving it. The way Sanji stepped into the road, the car, the horn, the way that he fell like something broken and with a crippling wave of guilt Zoro realised that he'd seen the car coming when Chopper ran out, before Sanji ran after him. Zoro would've punched something, probably himself, if he could feel anything at all. His limbs were like lead weights and Trafalgar didn't need to keep reminding him that it was best to keep on lying down. Zoro didn't want to move anywhere.

He'd noticed the car before Sanji. He should've stopped him. Why didn't he stop him? What the hell was wrong with him? He was so stupid. He felt anger writhing in his chest. Anger at himself. Anger of the strongest kind- the one wrought by guilt.

He'd felt that only one other time in his life but it was too painful to think of. He'd been so young, so stupid. He'd started it. But it had been an accident... She wasn't supposed to have died. She tripped, she fell, she....

And now Sanji too.

It was all his fault.

It seemed no matter where he went that disaster would follow.

"I should have stopped him."

It took Zoro a minute to register that those words had come from his mouth. He looked at Trafalgar who was only now putting away his stethoscope, "I saw the car, your car, and I didn't stop him from running out."

The doctor looked shocked at him momentarily until that look of discomfort returned to his face, clearly not used to having to use his bedside manner, "It... wasn't your fault." He sounded uncertain but whether it was because he was uncomfortable or believed Zoro was to blame was unclear.

"I didn't stop him. I fucked up." Zoro said, a young face from a childhood repressed haunting him. "I didn't mean..."

Trafalgar shed a pair of blue latex gloves from his hands and snapped on new ones. His grey eyes looked serious, "You are suffering from an acute stress reaction." He saw the dumb look on Zoro's face and explained, "Emotional shock. I need you to stay lying down and breathe deep, slowly in and out, alright? You need rest. I'm going to give you a light sedative to help."

Zoro noticed that the doctor looked more at ease talking about medical things and just went with it. Shock sounded about right- his thoughts were muddled and focussed on the car accident.

There was a sharp scratch at his elbow for a brief second and when he looked at Trafalgar again the doctor was taping a cotton swab to where the needle went in and peeling off his gloves again.

"I'll fill in your papers while you rest and, uh, the..." The doctor looked uncomfortable again, "The dog can stay until you're discharged, I guess."

Zoro's eyelids grew heavy and sleep was tempting him too quickly to respond, but as he blinked the last few times he could just make out the awkward doctor filling a small dish with water and placing it at Chopper's feet cautiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like writing a Trafalgar who's more comfortable with treating patients rather than trying to talk nicely to them haha


End file.
